Prague in Black and Gold: The History of a City Paperback – January 1, 1998

Many reviewers noted that one should visit Prague before reading this book. I must admit it to be so. I spent from 1996 thru 2005 in and out of Prague. My office was at 22 Paris Street, just up from the river and across from the old Jewish Synagogue. I would walk to my office each morning through the Old Town Square and down Paris Street.To understand Prague and even the Czech people there were three events that stuck in my mind. First, since I was somewhat comfortable in Russian, and Czech is close in some ways, I asked my Czech partner if I should try Czech. His reply was straight our; no, since only 5 million spoke it and they understood English so do not waste my time. Second, I was with my Greek partners on the Karol Bridge with all the statues, we walked across, and the Greeks turned to me and said; did I see all the statues? Well from New York originally we try not to look around too much so I really did not see them as the Greeks did. So I said no and why? The said; there were no smiles! Third; when I got there the first foreign language was German, when I left it was English. Then there was a fourth worth noting. We went to visit some customer in Vienna. The Czechs were nervous to the extreme. These were Austrians, and they saw them in an historical context and superior. Fortunately as a New Yorker I saw them as just another human, and had no historical context. The latter Americanism actually worked; this time.Thus to understand Prague and the Czechs is to understand the history of Europe. Parisian bars, German food, American slang. And also Czech culture.This book tries to lay out the Czech culture. For example in the Chapter on Charles IV, the great Czech leader in the mid 14th century, we see his growth from the Battle of Crecy in 1346 and then through his reign. Charles founds the University, one of the best in Europe, he corresponds with Petrarch and tries to convince him to come to the new University. Charles confers with the Pope in Avignon and is crowned in Rome. This reign established him as a major leader in European history and the move from the Middle Ages into current times. The author presents this period with exceptional clarity and insight.Needless to say the author presents the rest of Czech History, with Prague at its focus, up to the fall to the Nazis. Then he has a closing Chapter describing his return after the fall of the Communists. The telling part is the change in Czech language is the most interesting. The Czech of the author upon his return was the Czech of the classic days. Whereas the Czech of his return was modern Czech. I have seen this with many who had left after the War and returned. The language changed, phrases, pronunciation, style, and fluidity.When I first read this book when firt published in 1997 I had just bee introduced to Prague. After almost ten years of highs and lows and highs in Prague, I came to love it. In rereading the book, I can now fall in love with it as well. If one gets Prague in one's blood, it is like Paris, there can be no other. The author shows this with great clarity. It is not just a history of a city but the soul of a center of civilization. Visit Prague, take it in, and then this is a must read!

A very good history of Prague, especially with focus to the various ethnic groups that composed the population of this great city throughout its history; to understand how Prague evolved in terms of polity and culture, this book is essential, though in places dry. There is no doubt the author--a professor of German literature who was born and grew up in Prague--knows his stuff, but in places it can come across as dry while in other instances, the author does assume the reader already knows a wealth about Czech history. To be fair, Dr. Demetz warns of us this trajectory somewhat: he states his reasoning in writing this encompassing history is to cover the sociocultural nuances of Prague's evolution, which would seem to portend that the reader comes with some grounding in the city's history already. For those who don't have this background, I'd recommend the book A History of the Czech Lands, though be warned: anyone who thinks Demetz's book is stuffy or obtuse will probably be put off even more by the "Czech Lands" book. Together, the two books will provide a wealth of background though in key portions of Czech history.For the Slavic scholar in contrast, Demetz's book will just scratch the surface of Prague's lengthy history but will offer unique insight into the cultural atmosphere that many crucial political events transpired within. In any case, it's overall a well-written, very well-researched volume.

This is an outstanding political and intellectual history of Prague. I read many books about Prague before, during, and after my visit and this was by far the most engrossing -- it does a brilliant job of telling the history of Prague. It is probably strongest on the intellectual, artistic, and literary history of the city and is unparalleled in its ability to tell the story of all three communities -- Czech, German, and Jewish -- that made Prague such an important European cultural center. The book also does a excellent job of telling the political history of Prague and its accounts of the Hussites and the 30 Years War were the best I read. There are a couple areas that get short shrift including the economic history of the city, the areas outside center city and the narrative peters out before WWII. That said, this is brilliant book that I strongly recommend to visitors to Prague that seek to understand its key cultural role within Europe.